Wrench for oil-well casings



Dec. 18 1923. fl,41-78 ,Z

c. A. BUTLER WRENCH FOR OIL WELL CASINGS Filed May 2. 1921 4Sheets-Sheet 11 Dec. 1923,

c A BUTLER WRENCH FOR OIL WELL CASINGS Fil ed May 2. 1921 4 Sheets-Sheet2 Deco i R923.

0. A. BUTLER WRENCH FOR OIL WELL CASINGS 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 mmwm Desks M,C. A. BUTLER WRENCH FOR 011. WELL CASINGS Filed May 2. 1921 4Sheets-Sheet 4 I Patient D 18, 1923;

err .I;

application filed may 2,

To all whom it may concern:-

Be' it known that LCHARLns A. BUTLER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Okmulgee, in the county or Okmulgee, State of Oklahoma, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Wrenches for Oil-WellCasings, of which the following is a description, reference being bad tothe accom an in drawin and to the figures of P y g g reference markedthereon. v

This invention relates to wrenches for, screwing together oil wellcasings and other pipe of large diameter, and more particularly to "aportable power operated wrench for this purpose.

In drilling oil wells as they are now drilled, a great deal of casing isrequired. The casing generally comes in sections or joints abouttwenty-one feet in length and has to be screwed together at the mouth ofthe well and lowered into the well a joint at a time. The casing issecured together by gangs of men who walk round and round with a poleconnected to the casing by means of a rope and hook. Some of these assembled casings are from two to four thousand feet in length and the laborand expense in assembling them is enormous.

One of the objects of the present invention is to do away with thisgreat labor and expense by providing a portable power operated wrenchwhich may be quickly and easily shifted into and out of place, andwhich, when operated, will quickly and efiectively assemble the casingsections.

Another object of this invention is to provide a device of the abovecharacter in which the rotatable chuck is formed as a ring carrying thechuck jaws, which ring is provided with a movable sector so that thewell casing may be introduced into the ring transversely thereof so asto be in position to be gripped by the chuck jaws.

Still another object of this invention is to combine with this movablesector a locln'ng mechanism therefor, which is adapted to be held inlocked position by the gripping contact of one of the chuck jaws carriedthereon with the well casing.

Another object of this invention is to provide a device of the characterdescribed in which the rotatable chuck is provided. with gripping jaws,which jaws are constructed to automatically grip the pipe on rotation ofthe chuck in either direction.

Another object of this invention resides or human, canons.

anon roa ort-waracnres.

in constructing a device of the character described with a lightportable support, and mounting thereon a rotatable chuck and the primemover having geared driving connections with the rotatable chuck.

Still another object of this invention is.

to provide a prime mover and geared connections on the support withasuitable enclosing casing whereby to provide a light compact device ofthe character described.

These and other obvious and will in fully described.

eferring more particularly to the accompanying drawings thFigure 1represents a perspective view of e rick in operative position; 7

Fig. 2 is a'plan View of the device;

Fig. 3 is a detail view of the locking mechanism in open position;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the device;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged plan view of the chuck jaw and locking device;

' Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the chuck jaw and tubular guide for thecasing, and

Figures 7, 8 and 9 are views of one form of prime mover, in thisinstance being a steam turbine.

In general, the device comprises a. substantially light flat supporthaving an intermediate hook for attachment to the hook objects will inpart be part be hereinafter more 'of the derrick crane, and withadditional means whereb said support may be nonrotatably hel as by meansof ropes or cables. Atione extreme end the support is provided with ajournal for a rotatable chuck ring which is adapted to centrally receivethe well casing. This ring is provided on its upper face with aplurality of chuck jaws which project inwardly to grip the casingpassing through the chuck ring. There is also mounted on this support aprime mover, preferably in the form of a motor or steam turbine havinggeared connections to a toothed portion of the chuck ring. The chuckring 15 provided with a removable sector preferably pivotally arrangedto device shown as suspended from a dear-H swing outwardly so that thewell casing" can thereon will grippingly contact with the well casingand form a re-active pressure, which acts to retain the lockingmechanism in locked position. The chuck jaws themselves are pivotallymounted in radial guideways on the ring and are constructed to havelateral play whereby on rotation of the ring, the chuck jaws willautomatically shift and will be forcedhmrilre firliply into ippin enement .wit 1; e we casing. gr he i iven ti n is preferably embodied inalight portable device weighing about three hundred and fifty pounds andcomprises a support or handle 1 preferably long and narrow, and providedat one extremit with a crescent-like hearing or journal 2 or therotatable chuck or head 3. This chuck or head 3 is arranged in the formof a ring and is provided with a tubular guide 4 having an outstandingflange 5 peripherally of the tube. This flange supports and makes arunway for the friction rollers 6, 6 journaled on the inner periphery ofthe crescent-J shaped bearing 2. The lower part of the tubular guide 4is provided with set screws 7 which act as guides in keeping the chucklevel and are adjustable to difi'erent sizes of easing. In the preferredform, the outer periphery of the chuck is flanged laterally as at 8 andprovided with teeth 9. The flange 8 being thus formed com rises aninside runwa for the roller 10 ournaled on the upper ace of the support1.

In order to rotate the chuck head 3, the prime mover is mounted directlyon the handle. In the present instance, this prime mover is illustratedas a steam turbine, but it may be understood that any other source ofpower, such as a motor, may be used.

This turbine, which will be described later, in detail, is enclosed inacasing 11 mounted in any suitable manner directly on the handle 1 andis directed to drive the fixed on a shaft 15, journaled on the sup--port. This shaft 15 has-a small gear 16 driving a larger gear 17 fixedto a shaft 18 likewise mounted on the support, and this shaft 18 isprovided with a ar 19 meshing with the teeth 9 on the periphery of thechuck. It is desirable that the gearing be suitably encased, and to thisend, the gears 16 and 17 on the under side of the support 1 are enclosedin a casing 20, while gears 14 and 19 are enclosed on the upper side ofthe support 1 between the support and the casin 11 for the turbine, thecasing 11 being he d in spaced relation by means of posts 21. These twocasings 20 and 11 form journals for the shafts 15 and 18. At theintermediate part of the support 1 there is arranged a small handle 22whereby the device can be attached to the hook of a derrick or crane forswin the device into position as shown in ig. 1 of the drawings.

The upper face of the chuck 3 is preferably provided with radial idewa sfor the chuck jaws hereinafter escribe These jaws project into thecenter of the chuck ring to engage the well casing. In order to permitthe well casing to be introduced into the center of the ring, the chuck3 has the sector 23 cut out of it along lines 24, 25, and this sector isriveted to a bin d plate 26 which in turn is pivoted as at to the mainbody of the chuck, thus making a hinge on which the sector may swingoutwardly to provide an opening in the chuck by means of which it may beplacedaround the easing. The sector can then be swung into inwardposition and locked. v

The chuck 3, is provided with a flat top havin raised flanges 28 whichas before descri are radially arranged about the center of the chuck.These raised recesses receive the jaws or dies which are three or morein number, and are made in such a way that they will take hold of thepipe or casing without being forced against it with V screw power as inct are also arran ed so that the casing may be either screwe u orunscrewed without changing the chuc on the casing by simply reversingthe rotation of the chuck ring as hereinafter described. 1

These chucks or dies 29 extend longitudinally of the guideways and areprovided on. their inner. ends with teeth 30 and 31 which inclineinwardly about a central portion and are arranged oppositely so that thejaws will grip in either direction. The rear of the jaws or dies as at32 are slightly less in width than the width of the guideways, but thesedies taper inwardly toward the front thereof so as to provide apercepticle amount of lateral play in either direction. This side playis necessary to force the teeth of the jaws into the pipe. At the rear,the guideways are closed by a cross piece 33 through which a screw 34 ofthe chuckjaw passes. This screw is made of one piece with a collar 35turned upon it.

-A second collar 36 is slipped over this screw er chucks. These jawsshank and fastened by means of a pin 37.

The die 29 is mounted on the screw 34 by means of a hinge block 38having upper and lower pivots 39 and 40 held in position by a plate 41which rests on side plates 42, 43, and is held rigidly by bolts 44, thusmaking a hinge connection between the die 29 and the screw 34 so thatthe die has a free side movement as far as the side 28 of the guiderecess. The cross member 33 is bored out at 45 to seat a spring 46between it and the collar 35. The forward part of the radial guidewaysformed by the upstanding flanges 28 is provided with a cross piece 47 toprevent any upward movement of the dies.

The locking device for holding the sector in closed position isespecially arranged to cooperate with one of the chuck jaws mounted onthe sector. This locking device comprises a lever 48 pivoted as at 49 tothe upper portion of the chuck ring 3. To the other end of this lever 48is pivoted as at 50, a second lever 51 having an integral handle 52 anda pivotal connection 53 with a second lever 54 also pivoted as at 55 tothe upper face of the ring 3. These sections of the locking device areso arranged that when the sector is closed, and the handle 52 is forcedin one direction, the levers 48 and 51 will lie substantially in astraight line with the portion of lever 51 overlying the, joint betweenthe ring 3 and the sector 23. It will also be noticed that the end 56 oflever 51 will lie directly opposite the abutment 57 formed as acontinuation of one of the upstanding flanges 28 of the guideway on thesector 23. By turning the handle 52 a little further, the lever 48 willbe thrown out of aline-ment with the lever 51, and will be broughtagainst the pin or stop 58 projecting upwardly from the face of the ring3. In this position, the levers 48 and 51 will be locked and cannot beaccidentally moved except by a positive operation of handle 52. As shownclearly in Fig. 3, when the handle 52 is turned to the left, the lever51 clears the dividing line between the ring and the" sector, thusallowing; the sector to swing outwardly. When the sector is closed, itdoes not go entirely up to its seat on account of the springs 46 holdingthe dieplates out, so that they come in contact with the casing beforethe sector is entirely seated. When the sector is entirely closed,handle 52 is swung back to theright and end 56 on lever 51 is broughtinto contact with abutment 57 on the sector so that when the handle isadditionally swung to the right, to force the sector about its seat, thelever 48 will be brought against the stop pin 58 which brings thepivotal pin 50 a little past the center, so that the end pressure of theabutment 57 on the end 56 of the lever will have a tendency to hold thelevers, and especially the lever 48, in its position against pin 58until the handle is again moved toward the left.

When the sector is first forced to its seat to close the chuck aroundthe pipe, the teeth of the dies come in contact with the pipe and areforced against it by the springs 46. These springs hold the dies out asfar as the space between the collar 35 and the cross member 33. Afterthis, when the chuck is closed, the locking device catches it and forcesit on to its seat, compressing spring 46 until the collar 35 comes incontact with cross member 33 so that the teeth of the die plates arepressed against the pipe. At this time, the engine is started,

and when the chuck begins to revolve, and as soon as the pipe begins totighten, and resists the power to turn it, the dies pressing against thepipe by means of springs 46 will have a side strain forced on them, andas they are hung on pivots 39 and 40 and have nothing to keep them frommoving sidewise but their contact with the pipe, they will thus beforced sidewise until their sides come in contact with the sides of therecesses and this lateral movement will force the teeth of the dies intothe pipe or casing and hold it securely. If it be desired to unscrew thepipe, it is not necessary to readjust the dies or jaws to the pipecasing as in prior devices, all that is necessary is to reverse theengine which changes the rotation of the chuck ring to automaticallyshift the jaws to the opposite sides of their guideways and therebycause the oppositely formed teeth of the jaws to grip the pipe.

It will also be noticed that by providing the guideways with positiveside abutments or upstanding flanges 28, the lateral play of the jaws islimited, that is, just enough play is allowed to ive the jaws asubstantial hold on the pipe and also prevent it from forcing its teethinto the pipe deep enough to flatten the pipe,

The preferred form of prime mover is shown in Figures 7, 8 and 9,wherein is shown a light reversible steam turbine consisting of a wheelmade of two disks 59 and 59' enclosed in suitable casing plates 60 and60. The disks 59 and 59 are riveted to the hub 61 which is keyed uponshaft 12. Near the outer edge of the disks on the sides thereof facingeach other, are cut concentric grooves 62 (see Fig. 9), and from thesegrooves radially outwardly, are out other grooves 63 which connect withgrooves 62 to make U-shaped grooves in which are set correspondinglyU-shaped buckets 64, which are held in place in the grooves by suitablerivets which in addition hold the disks firmly together. Concentricallysurrounding this peripheral row of buckets is arranged a compartment inthe form of an annular tube 65 which is adapted to conduct the steamexhaust discharging from the buckets, conveying it to an exhaust outlet(see Fig. 7) connected to any suitable point of discharge as by a pipeor conduit. Concentrically surrounding the exhaust tube 65 is arrangedan inlet compartment herein shown as two semicircular shaped tubes 66and 67 clamped together at diametrically opposite points of the turbineas at 68 and through corresponding holes in the inlet in the exhaustcompartments. These jets or nozzles 71 are bent near their inner ends soas to direct the steam against the buckets of the wheel at the properangle. The nozzles in tube or compartment. 66 are set with their jets tothe left, while the nozzles in tube 67 are set with their jets to theright, which gives the jets in compartment 66 power to drive the wheelin one direction, and the jets in tube 67 power to drive the wheel inthe opposite direction. This construction makes the turbine reversible.

The steam inlet is connected to the compartments 66 and 67 by means ofathreeway valve 72. This valve is constructed with one inlet and twooutlets and is capable of opening either outlet and closing the other asdesired so that when the steam is turned into compartment 66,the turbinewill turn one way, and when the steam is turned into compartment 67, theturbine will turn the other way.

The exhaust compartment is provided with openings 73 at spaced intervalsabout its inner periphery. The intermediate walls of the compartment 58between these openings are made with inclined faces as shown at 74 (Fig.7), which faces are located directly at the mouth of the jets 71, sothat the steam is directed down these inclined planes striking thebuckets, which run very close to the walls of the compartment 65. Inthis manner, the steam drives these buckets forwardly, the steam.escaping through the openings 73 as the bucket moves onwardly. By meansof this construction, the separate buckets have separate steamdischarges so that the objectionable backing up of the steam from thevarious buckets is avoided. It is also obvious that the number ofbuckets may be increased or diminished, if desired.

It will be obvious that minor changes in the details of construction andthe arrangement of the parts may be made without departing from thespirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters-Patent, is

1. A portable oil well casing wrench comprising a support, a chuckrotatably mounted on said support and provided with a central openingand surrounding chuck jaws for the reception of said well casing, and aprime mover mounted on said support and connected to said chuck forrotating the same, said jaws having both a pivotal and a radiallyshifting movement on said chuck whereby to grip said casing.

2. A portable oil well casing wrench comprising a support, a prime movermounted on said support, a chuck geared to said prime mover and providedwith a central opening, a plurality of jaws surroundin said opening,said jaws havin a latera shifting movement on rotation 0 said chuck forgrippin said casing, and means for limiting sai shifting movements toprevent excessive grpping of said casing by the jaws.

3. A device of the class described comprismg a support, a prime moverthereon, a chuck mounted on said support rotatabl connected to saidprime mover, said chuc having a plurality of jaws for gripping saidcasing, means for supporting said jaws on said chuck whereby said jawswill automatically grip said casing on rotation of said chuck in eitherdirection.

4. A device of the class described comprising a support, a prime moverthereon, a chuck mounted on said support rotatably connected to saidprime mover, said chuck having a central opening and a plurality of jawsmounted thereon about said opening, means whereby said jaws have lateralshifting movement so that on rotation of said chuck in either directionsaid jaws will automatically grip said well casing and means forlimiting said shifting movement to restrict the bite of said jaws intosaid casing.

5. A device of the class described compris ing a relatively fiat supportterminating in a concave hemi-spherical journal, a plurality of rollsmounted on the periphery of said journal, a relatively flat circularchuck mounted for rotation in said jouranl and formed with a transversetubular guide and a plurality of jaws about one end of said guide, saidguide having a spaced peripheral ange adapted to seat said rolls betweenit and said chuck, said chuck having a toothed peripheral flangeextending laterally toward said guide flange, a roll ournaled on saidsaid support and engaging the inner periphery of said chuck flange, anda prime mover mounted on said support and having.

driving connection with the teeth of said chuck.

6. A device of the class described comprising a support, a prime movermounted thereon, a chuck ringmounted on said support, and rotated bysaid prime mover, a plurality of jaws on said ring adapted to grip awell casing within said ring, said ring having a movable sector topermit the insertion of said well casing transversely of said chuckring, a yieldable jaw on said sector adapted to contact with said casingand to be moved thereby on the closing of said sector, and a lockingdevice cooperating with said sector to hold said sector and lockingdevice in closed positions.

7 A device of the class described comprising a support, a prime movermounted thereon, a chuck ring mounted on said support and rotated bysaid prime mover, a plurality of chuck jaws mounted on said ring andprojecting inwardly to engage the well casing Within said ring, saidring having a sector thereof movable relatively to said ring to form anopening for the insertion of said well casing, said sector carrying atleast one of said jaws.

8. A device of the class described comprising a support, a prime movermounted thereon, a chuck ring mounted on said support and rotated bysaid prime mover, a plurality of chuck jaws mounted on said ring andprojecting inwardly to engage the well casing within said ring, saidring having a sector swingable outwardly from said ring to form anopening for the insertion of said well casing, said sector having atleast one of said jaws mounted thereon, means for locking said sector tosaid ring in closed position, said means being constructed and arrangedto be secured in such locked position by contact of the jaw carried bySaid sector with the well casing.

9. A device of the class described comprising a support, a prime movermounted thereon, a chuck ring mounted on said support and rotated bysaid prime mover, a plurality of chuck jaws mounted on said ring andprojecting inwardly to engage the well casing within said ring, saidring having a sector swingahle outwardly from said ring to form anopening for the insertion of said well casing, said sector having atleast one of said jaws mounted thereon, a toggle lever pivotally mountedat its ends to said chuck rin and adapted to overlie the joint betweensait ring and said sector when in inner position and to swing clear ofsaid joint when in outer position, a stop to limit the inner position ofsaid lever, one of the ends of said lever engaging a portion of saidsector when the latter is in closed position whereby said lever is heldin inner position against said stop by the outward pressure of the chuckjaw.

10. A device of the class described comprising a support, a prime moverand a chuck ring mounted thereon, means for rotating the latter from theformer, a plurality of radial guideways on said ring, a plurality ofjaws pivotally mounted-in said guideways with their gripping portionsprojecting into the central opening of said ring, a plurality of jawspivotally mounted in said guideways, and resilient means for projectingthe gripping portion of said jaws into the central opening of said ringto contact said well casing, said jaws being tapered at their inner endsto form lateral play between the inner ends of said jaws and saidguideway, whereby on rotation of said chuck ring in either directionsaid jaws will' automatically shift laterally to firmly grip said wellcasing.

11. A device of the class described comprising a support, a prime moverand a chuck ring mounted thereon, means for rotating the latter from theformer, a plurality of radial gui-deways on said ring, a plurality ofjaws pivotally mounted in said guideways with their gripping portionsprojecting into the central opening of said rin a plurality of jawspivotally mounted in said guideways and resilient means for projectingthe gripping portion of said jaws into the central opening of said ringto contact said well casing, said jaws being tapered at their inner endsto form lateral play between the inner ends of said jaws and saidguideway, whereby on rotation of said chuck ring in either direction,said jaws will automatically shift laterally to firmly grip said wellcasing. and means to adjust said jaws radially in said guideways.

12. A device of the class described comprising a support, a prime moverand a chuck ring mounted thereon, means for rotating the latter from theformer, a plurality of radial guideways on said ring hav ing parallelsides and closed at their rear ends, a jaw arranged in each guideway,said jaw having a rear width slightly less than the width of saidguidcways and narrowing to the front, a hinge block pivotally mounted onsaid jaw and an adjusting screw journaled in the rear wall of saidguideway and threa-dedly engaging said hinge block, aml a spring adaptedto press said jaws inwardly toward the central opening in said chuckring.

13. A device of the class described comprising a substantially fiathandle, a prime mover rotatably journaled thereon, an onclosing casingfor said prime mover, a chuck ring journaled on said handle. a train ofgearing between said prime mover and said chuck ring, anenclosing-casing for said gearing and a plurality of jaws mounted onsaid chuck ring for gripping the well casing on rotation of said chuckring.

In testimony whereof, I atiix my signature.

CHARLES AUGUSTUS BUTLER.

HUS

